A female clerk working alone on the overnight shift has been fired by 7-Eleven for shooting a man trying to strangle her during a Nov. 13 incident, according to local media.
Authorities say Stephanie Dilyard, who was working at an Oklahoma City location of the convenience store chain, declined to accept a counterfeit $100 bill from 59-year-old Kenneth Thompson, who reacted violently to the refusal. Dilyard described the incident to Oklahoma-based KOKH Fox 25.
“He threatened me, and said he was gonna slice my head off, and that’s when I tried to call the police. He started throwing things at me, came behind the counter,” Dilyard said. “I tried to run off, but he grabbed his hands around my neck, and pushed me out of the counter space, and that’s when I pulled out my gun and I shot him.”
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Despite police ruling the incident as self-defense, 7-Eleven’s human resources department contacted Dilyard to inform her she would be terminated “for violating policy,” according to a GoFundMe page she set up.
“For over 2 years I worked overnight from 11pm-7am with the same company, at the same location, but my days didn’t end then, I would come home and be with our 3 year old while my boyfriend works blue-collar,” Dilyard said on the page, which has raised over $28,000. “I would get an average of 3 hours of sleep everyday. However long the toddler napped and 2 hours when my boyfriend gets off work.”
Thompson was arrested by police while at the hospital receiving treatment for a gunshot wound to the stomach, KOKH Fox 25 reported.
“No law-abiding American should have to choose between survival and keeping their job,” John Commerford, executive director of NRA-ILA told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “This incident underscores a dangerous reality in our country today. Anti-gun policies, whether in statute or corporate handbooks, that disarm lawful citizens do nothing but give criminals the upper hand and endanger the general public.”
The 2021 National Firearms Survey estimates that firearms were used for self-defense 1.67 million times a year.
7-Eleven did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.
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